- Every local church should seek to represent the universal church as closely as possible.

The descriptions of churches in the New Testament

- 1 Cor 1:2: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.”

- Phil 1:1: “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.”

The practice of church discipline

- Why would you practice church discipline other than to move toward RCM?

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF REGENERATE CHURCH MEMBERSHIP?

Believers’ Baptism

- Baptism brings a person into church membership.

- Should we bring into membership a person who cannot or has not testified to personal faith?

- We cannot do so if regenerate church membership is our aim.

Congregational Government

- If we practice RCM, we normally expect church members to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

- In fact, this is the greatest blessing of the new covenant.

- Every church member has been equipped by God to play a role in exercising church’s authority

- Congregation affirms that a member is a disciple of Jesus and commits to oversee him/her

- Member affirms authority of the congregation and commits to shared oversight and mission

Church Discipline

- Enforcing of covenantal membership

- What if a church member does not live up to the church covenant? What should happen?

- Purposes of church discipline:

(1) Restoration of the offender (1 Cor 5:1-5).

(2) Protection of the holiness of the church (1 Cor 5:6-8)→This is regenerate church membership

(3) Protection of the public witness of the church (Matt 5:16)

Separation of Church and State

- I do not mean a secular vision of the public square.

- I do mean that church membership is rightly voluntary, not coerced.

- State should not interfere with the government of the church, nor the church with the state.

- Example: John Bunyan imprisoned for 12 years for preaching without a state license.

- 34% of our members are in church across the SBC on any given Sunday.

- What do we do?

- 2008 resolution:

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge churches to maintain a regenerate membership by acknowledging the necessity of spiritual regeneration and Christ’s lordship for all members; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge our churches to maintain accurate membership rolls for the purpose of fostering ministry and accountability among all members of the congregation; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to repent of the failure among us to live up to our professed commitment to regenerate church membership and any failure to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members (Matthew 18:15-18); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we humbly encourage denominational servants to support and encourage churches that seek to recover and implement our Savior’s teachings on church discipline, even if such efforts result in the reduction in the number of members that are reported in those churches, and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and their pastors to implement a plan to minister to, counsel, and restore wayward church members based upon the commands and principles given in Scripture (Matthew 18:15-35; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20).